Microsoft’s (MSFT) stock has gone nowhere for over a decade, trading in the $40-$60 range through 1999 and early 2000, and only occasionally breaking $30 since. Currently trading around $26-$27 ($27.12 on September 16 market close), it’s threatening to pierce $30 again. Several factors support the argument that Microsoft’s stock can achieve sustained value above…

A political question that may influence financial markets is who will win the White House in 2012. In addressing that, I argued in an earlier post that Mitt Romney is most likely to emerge as the Republican pick based on the Republican Party’s historical preference for candidates who fall short of the nomination after fighting…

With the S&P 500 down 14% (as of market close on August 26) from its May 2 post-financial crisis peak, now is a humbling time for most people who own equities. As battered investors try to parse out which stocks represent a bargain from those that are fool’s gold, one candidate is Ford (F). I…

Writing last December, I argued that the United States’ Triple-A sovereign credit rating was at risk of a downgrade. Now, less than eight months later, that prediction has come true, with Standard & Poor’s (owned by McGraw Hill (MHP)) downgrading the U.S. credit rating from Triple-A to AA+. I can remember writing the post and…

Like many people who experience joint pain, I assumed that arthritis was something I wouldn’t need to worry about until old age. I first noticed symptoms about five years ago in my early forties, when I began to feel pain in my right hand. The original diagnosis was that my right hand was predisposed to…